1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a job log management system, a job log management method, and a computer-executable program therefor. More specifically, the present invention relates to a job log management system configured to manage a job log (a job history).
2. Description of the Related Art
In the case of a conventional job log management system that stores a log about a job such as a print job, a scan job, or a facsimile transmission job and manages the stored job log, a user can, at the time of performing a job, designate information about a charging destination whose fee is to be counted. Furthermore, in the case of such a conventional job log management system, a user can designate information about a counting target (i.e., a user or a user group such as a division to which a user belongs) concerning whom the number of processed pages as a job is to be counted.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-362015 discusses a method for easily charging a print product distribution destination in the case of a print request whose request source and the distribution target differs from each other. More specifically, the method discussed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-362015 enables a print requesting person to change print requesting person information which is stored in a print history (job log) to print product distribution destination information after a print job is completed according to an authority of the requesting person. Thus, the method discussed by Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-362015 implements designation of a charging destination.
Charging destination information and counting target information have the same characteristics since they are data designated by a user in a job log. The other data in a job log includes, in the case of a print job, print result information such as a document name, a print user name (print requesting person name), a number of printed pages, the color mode (color or monochromatic), the print mode (two-sided or one-sided), whether to sort or finish the printed product, the paper size, print date and time, and the paper type, which a user cannot change.
Since the charging destination information and the counting target information is designated by a user, a user may make a mistake (designate wrong information, for example) in designating it. A job log is generally stored in a database (hereinafter simply referred to as a “DB”) managed by the system. Thus, after a user has designated wrong information, the user can search the DB for the data to be changed and change the extracted data.
For example, a user can relatively easily change the charging destination information and the counting target information in the following manner. First, a job log management apparatus acquires a log of jobs that a user has recently performed from the DB and then displays the jobs on a user interface (UI) of a user's personal computer (PC), as a list. The user selects a job that the user desires to change and input, via the UI, desired appropriate information in the job log of the selected job. With such a function, a job log management apparatus can update a database with the information input in the log of the job designated by the user.
However, in the case of the conventional method described above, in order to change the charging destination information and the counting target information, it is necessary to previously store a job log in a database. Meanwhile, a user desires to change the charging destination information and the counting target information when the user has designated a wrong job or input wrong information. Accordingly, in most cases, a user desires to change the charging destination information and the counting target information immediately after a completion of a job.
However, the timing at which a job log is stored in a data base differs according to how the job log has been acquired, a time length taken for acquiring the job log, and the device type.
For example, a device such as a large-sized multifunction peripheral (MFP) having a mass storage device such as a hard disk can store a large number of job logs. Accordingly, in the case of a device having a mass storage device such as a hard disk, a conventional job log management apparatus stores job logs in a database of once every night at midnight when the amount of data communication is relatively small.
Meanwhile, with respect to job logs stored on a device having no storage unit (hard disk) or only a storage unit of a small storage capacity, the time interval for storing the job logs into the database is relatively short. However, in terms of a network communication efficiency, a conventional job log management apparatus stores the job log at a longest possible time interval according to the capacity of the device. Thus, in most cases, the job log of a print job may not be stored in the database immediately after the print job is completed.
Accordingly, it is necessary for a user to wait until a job log is stored in a database or wait for a sufficiently long time after completing a print job to start processing for changing a job log. However, in this case, the user may leave unperformed the operation for changing the job log or forget information to be designated (changed) in the job log.